Cross Border Postage Confusion

[Storyteller5]

Okay, I'm having a bit of trouble figuring this out. I'm a Canadian and there are a few US publishers I would potentially like to submit to. I know I can go to USPS online and order stamps, but I have no idea what kind of postage I would need. I looked at the rates on USPS but couldn't find any clarity.

I'm thinking for children's ms, it's probably 5 pages of ms and a letter of response. I'm also thinking that 6 pages is not an easy fit for a $10 envelope. (CanadaPost says lettermail #10 is 5 pages for standard postage, not extra stamps.)

Wherever you are, how do the rest of you deal with cross border SASE? I would rather not use IRCs. :Shrug:

[Tish Davidson]

Five or fewer pages of standard 8.5x11 paper in a #10 (busines size) envelope takes 37 cents US postage. Each additional ounce or fraction of an ounce (another 5 pages) takes another 23 cents, although the rate is supposed to go up sometime early next year. Anything mailed in an 8x11 or 9x12 flat envelope takes a minimum of 60 cents postage even if it is one ounce or less. Any additional ounces or fractions of an ounce after the first two in an 8x11 or 9x12 take another 23 cents. Postcards (you can buy them prestamped from USPS) are 21 cents. Does that help at all?

[Jenny]

I'm new to the buying-stamps-from-overseas process, too, but my solution is to choose an envelope and count the number of pages then weigh the whole thing using an old letter-weighing thingy (technical term!). Then I search the USPS site for the right price to Australia.

[Stephanie]

I would include a "please recycle" request for an ms of that length, and just go for the pre-stamped, pre-addressed response postcard.

[Vanessa C.]

Whenever I submit to the US I send a stamped business size envelope. I never ask for my manuscript back. I would never resend it to another publisher. Every proposal contains a new manuscript. So, if I were you I would have someone send me some regular US stamps and just enclose a stamped self addressed business size envelope along with your manuscript.

[Tish Davidson]

A thread in another forum discussed the pros and cons of telling an editor not to send your submission back. Of course you want to send out a clean submission, but as someone pointed out, editors who reject your mss may also make helpful comments on it. You have to weigh this against the cost of extra postage.

[Storyteller5]

Yes, I read that other thread which is why I want my ms back. I would never send it to another publisher, but in case of comments, I want it. :)

[Stephanie]

Yes, there is the off-chance that you'll get comments -- if in fact you even receive a response at all. However, your postcard could just as easily leave room with a little prompt: "Comments appreciated".